Ruben Rodriguez scored his 1,000th career point on Friday during Reading High’s 71-66 victory over Vertical Academy in a non-league boys basketball game at Santander Arena.
Rodriguez hit the milestone on a driving layup early in the fourth quarter.
A packed crowd was on hand to see Reading take on the independent prep school based out of Charlotte, N.C.
Vertical Academy star Mikey Williams, the No. 13 recruiting prospect in the Class of 2023, according to 247Sports, scored six in the opening quarter.
A back-and-forth first quarter ended at 20-20 with Rodriguez scoring five.
Fastbreak play opened up for the Red Knights (14-2) in the second when short-handed Vertical Academy played outside the perimeter and missed on several 3-pointers. Vertical Academy only had seven players on their roster.
Reading won the bound battle on several possessions and the fastbreak points helped the Red Knights take a 39-31 lead into halftime.
Vertical Academy had fewer turnovers in the third quarter and cut it to 52-45 after three.
After a short celebration for Rodriguez’ milestone, the scoring slowed for Reading in the fourth.
Strong all-around play by Williams helped pull Vertical Academy into a 63-63 tie with less than two minutes to go.
Vertical Academy was up 66-65 when a turnover led to breakaway layup by Rodriguez that gave Reading a 67-66 lead.
Reading High made all four free throws after getting fouled down the stretch.
Rodriguez, coming off a school-record 50-point game against Daniel Boone, made the final two free throws to close out the scoring. He finished with 22 points.
Williams, a 6-2 guard, finished with 18 points and missed two free throws in the fourth quarter.
Source: Berkshire mont
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